SteveTries Member

Very encouraging - still plenty of time to get ready for October

Totally understand. It's really difficult to move away from an approach that has worked for you. It feels like an enormous risk.

Good run. How was it? All go to plan?

I was in a similar position a year or so ago. Late 2018 decided I wanted to do another marathon (late April) and my first Triathlon (IM70.3, early June). I didn't know how to swim properly and I'd only just bought my first bike, so signed up for 6 weeks of swim lessons and the instructor was actually a triathlon coach with…

Certainly I feel I run better in cooler weather, so that might well a contributing factor for you. I'm also in my mid-40's and have been running for a while. I do find that mixing things up makes all the difference. For example, I started up on triathlon training about this time last year, and amazingly I got a substantial…

are you able to cycle? Would help maintain your fitness

A man with unfinished business is a motivated man indeed!

making steady progress there - well done

I'd like to do my third marathon in the spring. Have entered the draw for London, but if that fails, then the Shakespeare marathon at Stratford Upon Avon is the same day and only 20 mins from home. Did my first triathlon this year (Ironman 70.3) and will definitely do it again next year in June. I found that it helped my…

Great progress. I'm certain you'll be there in October! Now to pick a destination race you can go to in the sprint and enjoy the atmosphere of an organised event. I promise you'll love it.

I have to jump in support of this. I think there is another aspect along with efficient stride, I think there is also form. I experienced something like this just last night. The workout was: - 10 mins warmup - 4 mins 5k pace - 4 X 45 secs steep hill sprint - 10 mins half mara pace - 2mins easy - repeat the first 4mins at…

not long now then. Good luck! Look forward to hearing how it went

sorry - an addendum to my post above, I realise I didn't explicitly answer your question: "do you think that there is a significant value in short, fast intervals for marathon training" 100% yes! But once a week is enough in my limited experience. With a second workout of longer duration with some of those intervals being…

Only run two, so not a wealth of experience: - Marathon one - 4hr 15. Finished it close to collapse - Marathon two - 3hr 45. Finished with the final 5 k being the fasted For the first one my training was lots of running, typically 6 days a week, pretty much all at the same pace, whether 5k or 30k. A smattering of…

how have you found the impact of the lifting on your training? It certainly helped me this year.

To give you an idea of how long it was since I last rode a road bike, when I was buying my Giant Defy Advanced 1 last October, I pointed to the down tube and asked "where is the gear lever?". I'm still not much better educated 9 months on, though my emphatic declaration of "I'm not wearing any of that lycra nonsense"…

I'm relatively new to cycling too (10 months) and I'll avoid repeating what others have already offered, but I would add that for me, getting a proper bike fitting was transformative. I spent months and months self-diagnosing why my feet were going numb. Following advice on forums and online guides, I changed socks, shoes,…

another vote for this - the same happened to me

1.2mile/1.9km open water swim 56mile/90km bike 13.1 mile/21.1km run OK it wasn't today, it was Sunday. But I'm still buzzing from completing my first triathlon. I remember vividly the start of this improvement journey. I'd go out running after dark so no one would see me. I'd return home 10 or 15 minutes later, convinced I…

Weather report for Sunday's triathlon is rain, rain and more rain, so today's workout is 1.2 mile open water swim in the rain. Joy.

Excellent - good on you! Following a better than expected London, I'm keen to do an autumn marathon this year to see if I can take some more time off. Tossing up between Bournemouth and Chester. I've run neither. I'd be interested to know why you selected Bournemouth.....

excellent - well done. Have you signed up for the next one?

Ditto! I'm the guy you see running around the streets laughing as I listen to comedy podcasts.

I'm British, I know all about running in the rain :smile: 1) throwaway raincoat/poncho for the start - got to stay warm. Consider how you are going to keep your socks dry before the start (is there a sheltered area? can you grab some overboots from the local swimming pool?) 2) a peaked running cap - it's so much easier to…

Very nice! Well done you. I trust you've signed up to the next two already :) I ran London also this year - wasn't it an incredible atmosphere? That crowd support is something else. I'm sure you've learnt a lot from that experience. I'll bet you will be sub 5 hours next year......go for it.

Most definitely a running shoe experience is going to be individual, but sometimes you can also pick up on a general theme that is the experience of many/most users. This might help you de-risk your decision, but really, your best bet is a fitting at a proper running shop (avoid mass chain sports shops, try and find a long…

OK thats good. Did the foot hold up ok? Did you finish the 19m utterly spent, or with some energy left in the tank?

well done for finishing! Did you reach a conclusion as to why it didn't go well?

I'm 2 weeks out from my next marathon and the doubts and insecurities have been coming thick and fast. It's pretty normal. If you've done the training you're going to be fine. Worst case, on the day if you feel like you are at real risk of your injury reoccurring, you can stop. Question - how have you gotten on during your…

Ahhhh I think this is a possible cause of your stomach issue during your 18 mile run. "isotonic" simply means having the same concentration of carbohydrates and electrolytes in a solution as in human blood, making it easy to absorb. Absent that, it's going to tax your digestive system harder to process that gel.…